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The goal of this research was the development of an e-learning model to address the needs of the South African corporate sector. To do this it was necessary to reach an understanding of: the South African corporate training needs; the difference between training, education, academic learning and learning theory; academic e-learning best practices and their integration into the e-learning model; various instructional /learning design models and how they can enhance e-learning in the corporate sector in South Africa and general and legislative requirements for the development of elearning portals in the South African corporate sector. Reeves and Hedberg (2003) recommend that research with a development goal should use an eclectic-mixed methods-pragmatic paradigm, and multiple research instruments to collect data. This study was conducted within an ICT company that designs e-learning courses for different companies. Three corporate learning portals developed by this company from the INSETA and BANKSETA were carefully interrogated to see if there is a match between the stated and the applied e-learning design methodology. A qualitative approach, with instructional design interviews, educational expert review forms and subject matter expert review forms was used for primary data collection and review of current e-learning design practices. The data was categorised into themes and topics using QSR NVivo 7. The patterns that emerged lead to a better understanding of local issues and these were linked to the best e-learning practices identified by the literature review and elearning practice in the South African corporate sector.. The SAeLAD model was then developed based on Trivedi’s e-learning best practices and using 13 e-learning design field-based findings namely; qualifications of practitioners, constructivism versus instructivism, learning through activities to support theoretical knowledge, need for a traceable recordkeeping system, testing and re-testing of the learning environment, incorporation of special needs in the learning design, access to ICT, level of ICT competence, learner motivation, prior experiences of learning, learners’ prior knowledge, cultural backgrounds and language skills and roles and responsibilities of the design team. Comments from practitioners were incorporated in the final design. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

This study had two purposes: first, to collect information relating to harmonic and intermodulation distortion from several sources into one comprehensive report and second, to describe and develop an interactive CD-ROM as a new method of learning harmonic and intermodulation distortion. The CD-ROM allows students to interact and control the percentage amount of harmonic and intermodulation distortion in order to "calibrate" their ears. In addition, the practical testing environment changes on a random basis to continually challenge the users. These situations allow students to interact at their own speed and therefore customize their learning development. / School of Music

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a difference in the level of reading comprehension of young readers when one group of students read an interactive CD-ROM storybook and another group of students read the same story from a conventionally printed book. The participants were 39 second-grade students from two intact classrooms in an urban elementary school in the Midwest.Students from one classroom read the story from an interactive CD-ROM storybook; students in the other classroom read the same story from a conventionally printed book. Students reading the CD-ROM storybook could ask the computer for pronunciation of unknown words. Students reading the conventionally printed book could ask the researcher to pronounce words they did not know. Words for which pronunciation was requested were recorded automatically by the computer; the researcher recorded the words requested by the book group. Students reading the CD-ROM storybooks requested the pronunciation of more words than those students reading the conventionally printed books.The following hypotheses were tested at the .05 level of significance:Hypothesis I: There will be no significant difference between the mean scores of reading comprehension on oral retellings for students reading a traditionally printed storybook and students reading the same text from an interactive CD-ROM storybook.Hypothesis II: There will be no significant difference between the mean scores of reading comprehension on a comprehension test for students reading a traditionally printed storybook and students reading the same text from an interactive CD-ROM storybook.An univariate analysis of variance was used to test the hypotheses. There was no significant difference in mean scores on the retellings between the two groups, therefore hypothesis I failed to be rejected.There was a significant difference in mean scores on the comprehension test between the two groups, therefore hypothesis II was rejected. When comprehension was measured through the use of comprehension questions, students reading the CD-ROM storybook scored higher. Although results were mixed on comprehension measures, observations from this study indicate that the use of CDROM storybooks may be beneficial for young children, particularly those who are reading below grade level. / Department of Elementary Education

The purposes of this study were to design and to evaluate an online system designed to enhance communication skills and project tracking of computer software courses at Ball State University (BSU). Student Online Project Planning and Tracking System (SOPPTS) was designed and field tested to provide real-time feedback from faculty on student progress, offer online guidance for software project planning, produce tracking automation, and facilitate communication between faculty and students.SOPPTS technology was designed under the supervision of W. Zage and D. Zage, professors in the Computer Science Department at BSU.Participants in this study included six BSU undergraduate students, six BSU graduate students and seven BSU faculty members. Each participant was interviewed for one hour in an instructor’s office in the BSU Computer Science Department. With the participants’ permission, each interview was audio-taped and coded with a letter and number.Data evaluation consisted of narrative summaries of the interviews, an analysis of the evidence in terms of the research questions and the compilation of data to show both emerging themes and major trends.Analysis of the data showed that learning was definitely enhanced, and that faculty evaluations were also strongly enhanced. Participants recommended more SOPPTS applications, both industrial and academic. The emerging themes showed that faculty and students:1) Had more and easier access to information; students' work was better organized; student team spirit grew; students were more accurately evaluated by instructors;2) Had more efficient methods for report submission and record keeping; students interaction with teachers increased; students found SOPPTS better than email;3) Students and teachers could work from various locations, with greater access to record retrieval and submission of reports, so that documents submitted were available to all instead of getting lost;4) Students were motivated by the nature of online task assignment and tracking because of greater accountability; faculty members were happy to see students' project progress online;5) Improved time and project management through greater awareness of milestones,deadlines and date/ time "stamping" of report submissions.Major trends show that improved access to information and communication facilitated learning, and that planning and tracking skills improved. / School of Music

The purpose of this study was to enable music teachers with limited technological background to develop computer-assisted instruction lessons. Toward this end, (1) "Lesson Writer," a HyperCard-based authoring system for the Apple Macintosh computer, was developed and (2) guidelines and recommendations for the production of effective CAI lessons in music were written. The specific organization of the dissertation is as follows. Chapter One presents an introduction and establishes the need for greater participation by music educators in the creation of CAI lessons in music. It calls for the creation of an authoring program for music teachers. Chapter Two reviews literature related to the study. Chapters Three and Four discuss the characteristics of the student and computer and the impact of these characteristics on CAI development. These chapters include guidelines for the creation of effective CAI music lessons. Chapter Five provides a tutorial on how to use the "Lesson Writer" software to produce a simple lesson on musical texture. The basic concepts of creating screens, adding text, sound, graphics, and interaction are demonstrated. Chapter Six gives an overview of "Lesson Writer." Chapters Seven, Eight, and Nine explain presentation screens (explanation), interactive screens (interrogative), and control screens (organizational) respectively. Chapters Ten, Eleven and Twelve introduce techniques for adding sounds, graphics and multimedia events (CD ROM and video disc) to CAI lessons. Chapter Thirteen shows random and branching operations in the "Lesson Writer." Chapter Fourteen includes a summary, suggestions for future study, and conclusions. In the appendices are (1) a list of lessons created using "LessonWriter," (2) a HyperCard and XCMD bibliography, (3) instructions for installing "Lesson Writer", (4) instructions for writing HyperTalk extensions to the "Lesson Writer," and (5) an annotated bibliography of dissertations written between 1982 and 1993 on the topics of computers and music. This bibliography was compiled by paraphrasing and condensing the abstracts provided by a computer search of Dissertation Abstracts International on the keywords, "computers" and "music." / School of Music

Timbre is a multidimensional attribute of sound and depends to a large extent on its spectral content. The evaluation and control of timbre is a task commonly performed by sound engineers, loudspeaker designers, and subjects participating in listening tests on the quality of transmitted and reproduced sound. Such listening tasks require specific listening abilities. / This dissertation presents a training method that aims at developing memory for timbre, sensitivity to timbre changes, and listening strategies involving disciplined auditory attention and efficiency. The physical timbre space is divided into categories defined by the center frequency of standard octave and third-octave resonances. This simplification of the physical timbre space allows the memorization of a limited set of perceptual timbre categories or references that can be used to evaluate other timbres. / The proposed method combines the use of computer software for the presentation and evaluation of exercises and individual tutoring sessions with an instructor. The software monitors the actions of listeners during equalization adjustment tasks and allows data to be collected on the sequence of problem solving operators that are used. Performance indicators can thus be compiled and used for the assessment of skill level achieved by the listeners. A global performance index is proposed. / A listening test involving the adjustment of multiple peaks and dips in a sound's spectrum is presented, in which the performance of a group of experienced professionals involved in sound recording and audio post-production was compared with a group of student subjects with comparatively little listening experience but who were trained with the method described in the present work for a period of 6 months. Results indicate that overall the experimental student group outperformed the control group of professionals. Suggestions for further improvement of the training method and performance level assessment are proposed.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 93-98).

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 86-89).

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 86-89). Also available in print.